"The Queen's Gambit," the limited series Netflix launched in 2020, has had a tremendous impact on the game of chess over the last four years. In fact, according to Tecumseh chess enthusiast and instructor John Smalec, "The show has really helped increase interest in the game."
He continued, "I was having dinner recently with the aunt of a friend of mine who is 95. She had watched the series and said she was just fascinated by it and with chess. I've talked to so many people who have seen this series and said that they are interested in chess. Of course, I'm not sure that means they wanted to pursue that interest. But it has raised awareness."
Smalec said if people watched the series, they would not only see a lot of chess but would have a better understanding of the game and its culture. "That series really made chess so popular."
He added that chess has grown in popularity since the late 1980s, especially among children. Parents typically notice their child has an interest in the game and might enroll them in a chess class or camp. Smalec sees chess as a good way to learn essential life skills, including problem-solving, planning, and thinking ahead. It helps them in school, he acknowledged.
"Chess is a good activity for children," he said. "One of the things parents like about it is that it gets kids away from their computers and over the board. Chess has increased a lot since I started teaching in the late 1980s. If you went to a children's state championship back then, there might be 45 kids there. Today, you go to a children's championship and there's 450 kids. I'm not exaggerating."
"Of course," he added, "you can play online and on Zoom."
Smalec has played chess since he was 19 but first discovered the game when he was 11. "My cousin had a little chess set made by the Drueke toy company. It was small, the pieces were about this size," he said, tamping his index finger and thumb about an inch apart. "It was a peg set and I was fascinated by how little it was, how everything was compressed," he recalled. "He had a little knight, a little queen, a little bishop, all of that. There was a set of rules inside the box, inside the chess set. I was probably 10 or 11. But I really didn't get into it until I was an adult. When Bobby Fisher won the World Championship in 1972, that spurred my interest in chess."
Smalec was a student at Spring Arbor University then, studying psychology and sociology. He would visit the local chess club in Jackson, with its weekly meetings and tournaments. "I wanted to improve at chess," he said. "So, I started buying books and studying, and then I started playing my cousin, who was a decent player. But then I started to beat him and he wouldn't play me anymore. That is when I found a chess club to go to and play."
Over the years, he's played in tournaments around the world, including on the Isle of Man, one of the largest open tournaments in the world. Smalec also played in an international tournament in St. Martin, located in the Lesser Antilles, and visited Iceland. The island nation was the location of the 1972 World Championship where Bobby Fischer of the United States faced Boris Spassky of the former Soviet Union and won.
"Chess is a very old game," Smalec explained. "Not a lot has changed with the game. The moves have been the same for the last 500 years. The innovation in chess comes from openings. The theory of the opening, especially, has changed."
The "opening" refers to the initial moves in a chess game, where players position their pieces to control the center of the board and gain an advantage over their opponents. "The Queen's Gambit" is one such opening, with recorded use dating back to the 15th century. It gained widespread popularity in the 20th century, particularly in the 1920s with chess great José Raúl Capablanca and later with Bobby Fischer and Garry Kasparov in the 1970s and beyond.
Smalec's expertise helped him develop the Tecumseh Parks and Recreation's "Musgrove Evans Gambit Chess Tournament," which is in its second year. Last year's tournament, he said, was won by a 10-year-old, who happened to be a former student of Smalec's. This year's event is set for May 3.
"There is an opening called the Evans Gambit," Smalec said. "The tournament is a takeoff on the name of that opening. But you don't have to play that opening to play in the tournament."
Smalec earned his Bachelor of Arts from Spring Arbor and went on to obtain a Master of Arts in Counseling at Western Michigan University. Over the years, this son of farmers from Elsie, Michigan, has worked in a variety of occupations, did a stint in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War, owned his own chess store, and worked in property management. Chess has been his companion through it all. He has studied chess for more than five decades; polished his skills in local, regional, national, and international tournaments; and, for the last four decades, shared his enthusiasm and knowledge with chess players of all ages, from kindergarten through adulthood.
"Anyone can do what I have accomplished with normal intelligence," he said. "I am not a chess master (though I have defeated a few chess masters along the way) and have no particular talent for the game but have a lot of experience and study time in chess."
He's also rated and sanctioned by the United States Chess Federation and has served as a certified tournament director.
Smalec enjoys teaching chess. In addition to a regular gig at the Hebrew Day School in Ann Arbor, he runs a summer camp in Bridgewater, held in June each year, and an annual chess camp through the Tecumseh Parks and Recreation Department. He also currently has six private students that he tutors in chess.
"As much as I enjoy playing, I never feel more alive than when I'm teaching chess," Smalec said. "I'm not exaggerating. I love teaching. And I love to see my students doing well in tournaments."
For information on Smalec's Chess Camp, which will take place at the AJ Smith Recreation Center, March 25-27 from 9am to noon, call 517-423-5602. Pre-registration is required, and the cost is $30 for city residents and $35 for non-residents.
The Musgrove Evans Gambit Tournament will be held on Saturday, May 3, at a time to be determined. Information is available from the Parks and Recreation Department by calling 517-423-5602.
For information on Smalec's Summer Chess Camp or for private tutoring, contact John Smalec at 517-902-6796. n
